Theme day #1 of the blogathon…specifics always make me apprehensive…the 5 movies that have inspired me as I’m thinking about my  blogging:    the first  one that comes to mind  of course – Julie and Julia – Julie’s approach to bringing some meaning into her rather mundane, going nowhere life is to cook like Julia (Childs)…she was so dedicated to “getting it” right that just watching the movie that resulted from her efforts was true genius.  Love it, saw it three times – Julie Powell made me a believer…passion can take you where ever you want to go and Julie got there with her tiny little kitchen and 524 french recipes.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was another movie that was full of passion, Lisbeth Salander was a fragile misfit with a gift for computer hacking that was able to make  it work in her investigations.   Having read all three books and watched the  three Swedish films, Lisbeth is a survivor and will do what ever she deems necessary to do just that.   Steig Larsson  was a great story teller who was able to bring a tragic family mystery with an engaging  financial journalist,  and concoct a love story with such a strange but gifted girl who you come to really like was entertainment at its best for me.

Johnny Depp movies are among my favorites and I’m waiting for “Dark Shadows” – there is nothing that Depp can’t do – loved him in Alice In Wonderland as the Mad Hatter, Edward Scissorhands was brilliant and his portrayal of Willy Wonka in Charlie and  The Chocolate Factory was one of the more fun depictions of the Chocolate Factory movies.  His abilities intrigue me and I’m always ready to see his films again and again.

Perhaps I”m better inspired by the portraits  of people and their talents than I am in the movies themselves but, then again I’ve been an avid movie-goer since I was 8 years old so movies  must have something going for them.

What’s your prison….if you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right either way!

Hundreds of  years ago British Columbia built a prison to house inmates…and like all old structures, it  was  destined to be torn down once the replacement was complete.   Once moved to their new quarters, the prisoners became part of the work crew sent to tear down the walls and were told to salvage all the lumber, electrial appliances, and  plumbing  to be reused at a later date.

Like all prisons, the heavy sealed metal doors had massive locks, and 2″ steel bars  covered  the cell windows – but when they began to dismantel the walls of the old prison the prisoners were surprised to find  that the prison walls were actually made out of paper and clay and painted to look like iron.

If a fight had ever  taken place within the prison walls  and an inmate had been thrown against a wall, they more than likely would have landed outside the prison walls where they could have  easily  escaped.  Instead, they stayed hunched up  in their locked cells believing an escape would be impossible.

Not one prisoner had ever tried to escape the old prison because they thought it was impossible!

What’s your prison?   For many of us our  prison is  fear…we don’t go after our dreams because reaching them seems  impossible…what have you been too afraid to go after for fear of failing?

On sure bet is this…if you don’t try, you can NEVER succeed.

Keep the 30-year mortgage on your home, refinance it next week,  and still pay it off early!  The reality of having a 30-year mortgage can provide a ton of financial flexibility.

Having a 30-year mortgage doesn’t mean you have to pay it off in 30 years, there is nothing to say you can’t pay it off in 5, 10  or 20 years instead  and thereby save  thousands of dollars on interest and dozens of wasted years.    Money Watch reports that mortgage interest rates have just hit record lows (3.84% for a 30-year fixed mortgage) and they continue to drop – if you can drop your interest rate by even 1% off  your existing mortgage, you should do it on Monday.

A Follow-up to the Dave Ramsey Mortgage Post – This is Interesting!

By JLP | March 8, 2007

Although the qualifications are steep,   you shouldn’t wait if you meet these standards;   even  for those of you who may have refinanced in the past two years, consider a new refinance, especially if you fit these guidelines:  a credit score of  700 or higher,  have no late payments, your existing mortgage is less than 80% of your home’s appraised value, it’s meets the loan conforming limit  (not more than $417,000 and up to $625,500 in higher cost areas).   Unfortunately those people who really need to refinance probably won’t qualify.

To pay off your 30-year mortgage in much less time consider adding 10% to your mortgage payment to pay it off in about 22 years; 20% tacked on will pay it off in about 18 years , etc.   Should you choose this method of reducing your mortgage payoff time, contact your lender and let them know to tack the additional monies toward the principal and not the interest.

This simple idea alone can  save you tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest over the term of your loan.  If you aren’t sure what your options are with your bank, contact them and tell them you want to pay off your mortgage in 10, 15, or 20 years – don’t fail to ask if there are any penalties for early payment (answer should be no) – ask them to send this information in writing;  more than likely they will be happy to help you in your efforts.

Another pretty good idea  is to use an online mortgage calculator at one of these  Web sites:

www.mortgage-calc.com

www.Lendingtree.com

www.eloan.com

www.mortgage-net.com

Should you decide to  make these new payments with additional principal toward your mortgage, keep on top of your monthly statements;  all too often banks fail to properly credit your payments but staying on top of where your money is credited can save  months and months of aggravation  and confusion.  Watch  over your extra payments like a hawk!